Change of Heart
by Ikuinen Talvi
Summary: In the Northern Water Tribe, a young water bending master named Hakone will face his greatest challenges. But he won't have the time to think about them - his challenges will make him choose, one way or another; they could cause him to have a change of heart. Set during Avatar Aang's lifetime in the end of Book One. Will move into Book Two. Pairing: Zuko/OC. Gay. T just in case.
1. The Water Bending Master

**A/N: The introduction to my new fic, and also in a new world that I haven't worked with before: Avatar: The Last Air Bender. I'm really looking forward to starting this fic, and I hope that I can keep it up to date and not fall behind! If I do manage to start slowing down, please keep in mind that I'm in college right now and that my grades come before writing. Let's get started!**

XXX

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. A long time ago, the four nations lived together in harmony; but then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

This is the story of the Avatar and the war that is upon us. They tell us that the Avatar has returned after one hundred years of strife and madness. Many are cynical and believe that if the Avatar has finally returned, he's too late: the world lives in fear of the Fire Nation.

But I believe that the Avatar will bring about an era of peace and kindness. That the Fire Nation will not have a place in the war much longer, of that much I am certain.

My name is Hakone. I was born and raised in the Northern Water Tribe. Due to our superior defenses and being entirely surrounded by water, we have escaped most of the war that was raging around the world.

The day that my icy world changed began like any other. I rose a few hours before dawn and went into the room where my family had our meals, surprised to see my mother awake, stirring a pot of sea prunes and humming to herself.

My mother was a beautiful woman. She had long raven hair that she kept tied into a braid, warm ocean blue eyes, and long, graceful features. People often told me that I was a replica of her, and it was true. The differences between her and I were subtle. You could barely see any of my father in me. Strong, and brooding, the only thing he had given me was my build, which was slightly taller and slimmer than most my age.

"Good morning, mom," I said sitting down at the table.

"Good morning Hakone. Off to train?" She inquired, spooning some of the stew into a bowl and setting it in front of me.

"Yes. Master Pakku says that today is my last day before he decides whether or not I'm a master," I told her, blowing on my soup to cool it down.

"I'm so proud of you. The last time someone your age became a Master Water bender was…. Well I'm not sure," My mother said fondly.

She had a point. At fifteen, I was the youngest person to reach the level I was at in nearly one hundred years. Since the Avatar had disappeared…

I finished my stew in silence while my mother hummed and began cleaning.

"Alright mom, I'm going now. I'll see you later," I said, hurrying out the door. I pulled my furs tighter around my body, shuddering at the biting cold, then hurried down the strip of ice that led from my house to the majority of the city.

About half-way to the yard where we practiced and learned from Master Pakku, I heard a rush of water and turned on the spot. I shot my hands upward, catching the icy pikes that had been flying toward me, turned them into water again and launched it back in a large wave at the person who had bent them at me. I blinked, eyes large as they landed on the form of my best friend Korrik, who was encased within the icy wall I had trapped him in.

I sighed, dropping my hands and causing the water to dissipate back into the streams that wound throughout the city and raised an eyebrow at him. He started laughing and ran over to me.

"I was just checking to make sure that you were on your toes. Master Pakku is testing you today, isn't he?" Korrik asked, his energy causing me to smile.

"Yes, he is. But was trying to stab me with ice the best way to see if I was about my wits?" I asked, annoyed.

He didn't respond but just laughed and we continued on our way toward the practice yard. Korrik was three years older than me and had just been named a master a few months ago by Master Pakku. Since, he had been to the training sessions to help Pakku train those of us who remained.

The sun was just peeking over the edge of the horizon as Korrik and I entered the practice yard. Pakku was sitting down, eyes shut, meditating. I took my usual place directly in front of him, sitting in the same fashion as him and began meditating myself. I knew the importance of meditation. It was necessary to help clear your mind and calm yourself if you wanted to succeed in life and make good decisions for not only you, but also for those around you.

It felt like a lifetime had passed before I heard movement. The sound of rushing water, the sound of water freezing, and the sound of water bending itself greeted my ears. My eyes flew open and I had just a few moments to gather my bearings before the onslaught from Master Pakku reached me. I redirected the ice toward him and jumped to my feet, creating a ring of water around myself for defense. I locked eyes with Pakku, whose expression was blank and unreadable.

I shot a hand out, sending tendrils of water toward him, which he easily deflected. I continued the attack, switching between water and ice blasts. I noticed his movement were becoming more and more evasive rather than direct and offensive and realized that he was trying to get to my sides to incapacitate me. I turned then and launched the remaining water that was circle around me into a focused attack.

He interpreted my movements and sent my attack back toward me in an enormous ice block, which I promptly returned to its liquid state. I sent the liquid into the air as vapor and surrounded the yard with a thick blanket of mist, putting both of us at a disadvantage due to not being able to use our sight. I pulled water up around me and allowed the snow to cover my body and appear as though I had sunk through the ground, knowing that Pakku would eliminate the mist I had created and shifted my location quickly before he knew what I was up to.

When I rose out of the snow, he had dissipated the mist and was gazing in the direction where I had been. I jerked my hands forward and the snow surrounding his body jolted upward, encasing him in an ice prison much like I had done with Korrik earlier. He had turned before it had completely frozen around him and his eyes were wide with amusement, as well as pride. Before he could say anything, I allowed the ice around him to flow back into the snow that it was and bowed to him.

"Done so quickly?" Pakku called, walking toward me.

"Sifu Pakku, water is the element of change; it does what it will in its own time," I said. He smiled amused and bowed to me.

"Congratulations, Master Hakone. You'll make a fine teacher one day," He said.

"Only because I had the best one to teach me," I responded, bowing to him again. As I raised up, someone came running into the yard; it was Hahn, Korrik's cousin. I didn't know much about Hahn other than Korrik didn't have much good to say about him.

"Hello Hahn, what can I do for you?" Pakku asked. Hahn had to take a moment to breathe before he could respond.

"The chief wants you to come to the palace – he says that the Avatar has come to the North Pole," He panted. My eyes widened and looked to Pakku, who stroked his beard.

"Well, well, so the Avatar has come to us at last. What do you say, Hakone? Would you like to come meet the Avatar too?" Pakku asked, looking at me. Not knowing how to respond, I nodded.

"Alright, let's go. Korrik? Will you come with me as well?" Pakku said, then turned to instruct his apprentices on their instructions for training.

Korrik joined us as we started walking toward the palace, and he and Hahn glared at one another for a moment before Hahn headed into a different direction from the rest of them. Pakku said nothing as we began our journey to the palace, which was luckily only a ten minute walk.

"Master Pakku, are the rumors of the Avatar being all-powerful true?" I asked as we began to ascend the hill where the palace stood.

"Only when the Avatar is fully realized; and even then, if he or she doesn't have full control over the Avatar state, then that Avatar can be killed while they are in it. With one hundred years of being gone, I would be willing to wager that the Avatar has had the time to learn all four elements and master the Avatar state as well." Pakku said, keeping his eyes on the way ahead of us. I asked no more questions as the palace came into view.

Chief Arnook was a proud man, and he greeted Pakku like an old friend. Pakku smiled before introducing me as a new master. I had met the chief once when I was younger, but this was my first time remembering him. I bowed to him and he smiled.

"Anyone trained by Pakku and honored enough to be called a Master by him deserves respect," Arnook laughed, bowing slightly to me. I stood behind Pakku with Korrik as we waited for the Avatar to arrive.

"He is taking his time, I see," Arnook's wife said, and Arnook raised an eyebrow.

"He has been missing for a long time; it's possible that he's nearing death and came here to tell us who the next Avatar will be," Arnook responded, chuckling.

Then the doors opened and revealed… a boy. He couldn't have been older than twelve, and had air bender tattoos visible on his head and hands. Wait… this _boy_ was the Avatar? I turned, wide eyed to Korrik who was sharing the same look and maybe the same thoughts I was.

"Hello!" He said, waving. I then took notice of the two people with him, realizing that they were dressed in water tribe clothing, but the designs were different than what I was used to… Could they be…?

"My name is Avatar Aang, and these are my friends Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe," the boy said, bowing. The other two did as well, and Korrik and I exchanged looks again. It had been a very long time since we had heard from our sister tribe – since before I was born, if I recalled correctly – and even longer since someone had seen someone from the South Pole.

XXX

That night, Princess Yue's birthday feast had been combined into a celebration of welcoming the Avatar as well as our Southern Water Tribe guests. Master Pakku and some of his students performed for the amassed crowd, while I sat with Korrik just beside the high table where the chief sat alongside his wife and daughter, and the Avatar and his friends.

Pakku took his place beside me when he was finished with his performance and began eating.

"I suppose the Avatar will be seeking a teacher," I said, making conversation with him. He nodded without replying and continued to eat. Used to the quiet methods of my teacher, I returned my attention to the high table where the Southern boy was talking to the princess, both of them blushing. The girl who was with him was quietly paying attention to their conversation, and the Avatar, Aang, was scrunching his nose at the sea prune stew in front of him, which I surmised wasn't particularly a favorite for him. When the feast came to a close, the chief brought Aang toward our table and told Pakku that he had a new student.

"Just because you're destined to save the world, don't expect any special treatment," Pakku smiled, his demeanor the cynical humor that he normally had about him.

"My friend and I can't wait to start training with you," Aang responded. Mentally, I made a note to keep an eye on him and made my way toward Pakku as they went their separate ways.

"Master Pakku, should I come to the training yard like I normally do tomorrow?" I asked, actually unsure of what I should do with myself now that my training was finished.

"Hmm, that would be a good idea I think. Allow you to keep your head on your shoulders – maybe I'll let you help train the Avatar," He chuckled. "I will see you tomorrow. Good night, Master Hakone."

We bowed to each other and then went our separate ways. When I made it home, I told my family what I had accomplished. My mother and father were thrilled, and so were my younger siblings. Kommi, my younger sister, hugged me tightly around the waist and Noruk bounced energetically in my arms as I carried him off to bed.

I laid in my bed that night, looking up at the moon through the window. I could feel the energy that the moon blessed us with filling my body and sighed in sleepy contentment. The next day I would begin life not as a student, but as a master.


	2. Changing Tides

**A/N: Thank you to the one reviewer that I had! I'm glad you liked the chapter! I hope that those of you who read it will consider leaving a review – it helps with the writing process, knowing what you like and what you didn't like. Sorry it's a bit of a shorter chapter; it felt right. I'm sure that you're wondering if this will be moving along, and I can promise that it is. I needed these first few chapters to help introduce Hakone and build his character up.**

"What do you mean you won't teach me?" The Southern girl, Katara, asked. Aang had neglected to tell Pakku that his 'friend' was a woman. I didn't agree with it, but in our tribe it was forbidden for women to learn water bending. "I didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell me no."

I breathed in heavily, looking between her and Pakku. This was a touchy subject amongst our people.

"No." Pakku said, glaring at her from where he sat on a block of ice.

"But there must be other female water benders in your tribe!" Katara argued.

"Here the women learn from Yugoda to use their water bending to heal," He explained, half-smiling. "I'm sure she would be happy to take you as her student, despite your bad attitude."

"I don't want to heal – I want to fight!" Katara exclaimed.

"I can see that," Pakku said. "But our tribe has customs – rules."

"Well your rules stink!" Katara countered, as Aang stepped forward.

"Yeah, they're not fair," He spoke; "If you won't teach Katara, then…"

"Then _what_?" Pakku asked, standing.

"Then I won't learn from you." Aang said frustrated.

I stopped paying attention to the conflict before it could get any headier and closed my eyes to meditate. Then I heard the sound of rushing water and looked up to see Pakku bending a blast of water at Aang, a grin on his face.

The Avatar rushed backward, a whoosh of air coming out of him as he fell on his backside. I held my jaw tightly, fighting off the urge to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Korrik asked, sitting beside me.

"It reminds me of my first lesson with Pakku," I told him, and Korrik laughed.

The Avatar's training directly with Pakku didn't last long. He instructed Aang to move the water, to feel it.

"You're moving the water around, but you're not feeling the push and pull," Pakku reprimanded as he ate some stew.

"I'm trying," Aang said through clenched teeth.

"Maybe that move is too advanced for you. Why don't you try an easier one," Pakku suggested in a condescending tone. Aang, in response through his water onto the ground, grunting in annoyance. "Hakone, would you like to show the Avatar how this move is done?"

I smiled encouragingly at the boy and stood. Lifting my hands, I pulled the water from the ground where he had tossed it and showed him the push and the pull techniques that Pakku was trying to explain.

"Watch how my body allows the water to move as an extension. It's all about sinking and floating," I told him, performing the move so that he could see how it was done. Then, I passed it along to him for him to try it. He allowed the water to hover for a moment as he thought about what I had shown him, and then executed it brilliantly. "Good job." I smiled.

Finally, it was time for the training to end. I was stretching and about to walk away when I heard someone approaching.

"Thanks for helping earlier," The Avatar said, falling into line with me.

"No problem. I know Master Pakku can be hard to work with, but he knows his stuff – trust me. He named me a Master Water Bender yesterday just before your arrival was announced," I told him. Aang's eyes widened and smiled.

"You must be really talented then," He said.

"Oh you know, nothing too extraordinary," I blushed.

"Well, I'd better go. Bye!" He waved before flying off on his glider. _Air benders_, I thought to myself as I watched him fly.

XXX

The next morning I woke to find Korrik in my bedroom.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, and Korrik's usually happy face showed concern and a frown.

"The Avatar tried to teach that Southern Tribe girl the technique that you and Pakku showed him last night; Pakku says that the Avatar disrespected him and his entire culture, and that he is no longer welcome as Pakku's student."

"That's ridiculous!" I exclaimed, jumping out of my bed. "It's the Avatar's duty to learn the four elements. Pakku's stubborn clinging to "traditions" as he puts it are prohibiting that; I don't see what the big deal is allowing a woman to learn water bending." I said as I began getting dressed.

"You know that I feel the same way; I don't know what this means though. Anything could happen," Korrik said.

As it turned out, the three had already been to see Chief Arnook about the situation. We had just made it to the palace when Katara stormed out of the palace, Aang and Sokka close behind her.

I didn't hear the exchange that they had, but a moment later, Pakku came out of the castle, his face unreadable. Katara yelled something at him, her face twisted in anger, and Pakku said nothing.

Aggravated, Katara created a water whip and slapped him on the back of the head. Pakku stood still, his face snarling before turning and grinning evilly.

"You want to learn how to fight? Study closely!" He snarled.

The next few moments were unbearably thick with anticipation. The two battled it out, and I was amazed to see how incredible Katara's water bending prowess was. She would make a great bender. Finally, Pakku caused ice to fall around her in blades, trapped Katara and began walking away before he stopped.

Kneeling, he grabbed something out of the snow.

"This is my necklace…" He said, his face becoming a haze of thought and reflection, of sadness and partial anger.

"No, it's mine! Give it back!" Katara growled, struggling against the ice around her.

"I made this sixty years ago, for the love of my life… For Kana," Pakku said, and the ice around Katara melted.

"Who is Kana?" I asked Korrik, who shrugged in response.

Katara looked up confused. "My Gran Gran was supposed to marry you?"

My gaze widened, as I took in the situation.

"I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her," Pakku said, his tone depressed.

"But she didn't love you, did she," Katara stated quietly. "It was an arranged marriage. Gran Gran wouldn't let your tribe's stupid customs run her life; that's why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage."

Pakku didn't respond. He handed Katara's necklace back to her and then walked off, his head low. He glanced at us and shook his head, signaling that there would be no training that day.

What was I supposed to do now?

XXX

The following morning I walked into the practice field, bowed to Master Pakku, and took a seat beside Korrik.

"Pakku had a long night, apparently," Korrik said. "Look how tired he is."

"I can't blame him. His past came to visit him… even if it wasn't the same particular person," I answered. Aang was already practicing, and he seemed to have mastered a few more techniques.

"Good job. Keep practicing and maybe you'll master it by the time you're my age," Pakku laughed. Just then, Katara came running into the field. Pakku stood straight, his face stern. "What do you think you're doing? You're late, it's past sunrise." He said, taking a stance.

Katara smiled and mirrored his movements, ready to begin the day.

I observed the training quietly, focusing on the day. Things were looking up for the better – the Water Tribe was changing some of its old habits, and although not everyone was happy, most were.

Yugoda had sent her more advanced healing students to see if they wanted to learn to fight and Pakku had assigned us to teach them what we knew.

I was working with a few of the girls; they already knew the basics so I set about teaching them how to move larger amounts of water, to be fiercer than they might want to. Water had two sides – calm and relaxing, and angry and unforgiving.

I smiled at their progress; maybe I would be a great master like Pakku.


	3. Invasion

**A/N: And now we get into the depth of the kickoff of the story.**

**Pinksamurai1014: You'll see ;)**

**In the meantime, all of you lovely readers out there: please drop a review! Even if it is listed as a guest, I would appreciate it!**

XXX

Nearly two weeks had passed since the Avatar and his companions had arrived at our Tribe. I was overseeing the training of Yugoda's pupils when I heard my name being called from the front of the field.

"Hakone! Would you care to step into the ring with Katara and see how much she has grown?" Pakku called. I smiled and turned toward them.

Katara had advanced extremely fast – more so than even I had. She was able to take out each of the students that Pakku was currently working with and now she was ready to start fighting master level benders.

I bowed to Katara and took a stance. The girl grinned before bowing at me and then striking a similar pose across the ring from me.

That was the one thing that would throw her off: her confidence. She might have been an incredibly talented water bender, but she was too cocky, too sure of her abilities.

She lashed out, blasting water up toward me, and I split the wave she sent down the middle, commanding it to flow around me and then up and around to combine again. I froze it into ice and sent it her way before directing another two waves toward her from the sides.

She was quick. The ice flowed back into water and she caused the three attacks to flow around her and sent it back to me in one huge ice ball.

I ducked under it, pulling the water under me into a wave and turning it into ice so that I sped around her before using the same wave to rush around her, squeezing it tightly into a band that I forced to get tighter.

She pulled the water around her up so that it froze in a wall to cover all of her sides before launching herself upward and over the top. She grinned coyly, thinking she had the upper hand – but she had neglected to remember the water behind her. I pulled it forward and it caught her, surrounding her in ice.

I bowed, then made the ice dissipate back into liquid.

"That was very good work indeed Katara; you've proven that with hard work and dedication, you can accomplish anything." Pakku told her, bowing.

Pakku turned to speak to Aang, and I was returning to Yugoda's students when I heard a hacking sound coming from the Avatar's flying lemur. I turned curiously and saw then what it was: the snow that was falling from the sky had turned black.

I heard the gasps and turned to look at Pakku, whose eyes grew dark.

"The Fire Nation… so they've finally come," He muttered.

Moments later the sound of banging war drums sounded, signaling for us to gather in the palace. I made sure that everyone was on their way before running myself. I heard footsteps behind me and saw Katara and Aang pull up beside me.

"Has the Fire Nation attacked the North Pole before?" Katara asked, her expression worried.

"Once, many years ago. I wasn't alive back then," I told her.

Finally we had made it to the palace. A few stragglers were pooling in, and I found a place to sit beside Aang and Katara. When everyone was finally gathered, Chief Arnook stood.

"The day we have feared for so long has finally arrived. The Fire Nation is on our doorstep," He began somberly. "It is with great sadness It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe. But they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits: Spirit of the Ocean, Spirit of the Moon, be with us! I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission."

Then, Sokka stood, his face determined. I hadn't seen him come in. "Count me in!" He called in a somber tone.

"Sokka!" Katara protested.

"Be warned," the chief said as others began to stand. "Many of you will not return. Come forward to receive my mark if you accept the task."

I stood and walked to the front alongside Sokka bowing before the chief as he placed the symbol on my forehead – three red waves. I followed the others where we were led into a chamber in the palace. The chief appeared moments later to task us.

"I need all of you to be on the great wall for our front line of defense. After the onslaught we will proceed with plans after we know the severity of the invasion." Arnook instructed. I bowed, ready. I felt a hand touch my shoulder and looked around to find Pakku, his face grim.

"Hakone, be careful. This isn't like your training. You're a fierce bender, very talented and smart, but there won't be any release if you get into a pinch," He said. I could tell that his words came not from the mind of a teacher, but rather from those of a friend.

"Thank you, Master Pakku, for your wisdom and concern. I wish the same for you," I told him, bowing.

"Good luck." He said, then walked away to confer with the chief.

"Listen, some tips on fire benders – they're ruthless," Katara said, placing a hand on my shoulder. She and Aang had joined us when Sokka had insisted on coming.

"Thanks for the tip." I smiled. "Just make sure you don't underestimate them, pupil Katara."

She smiled, knowing what I meant. "And thank you, Master Hakone."

We were led to the main wall where we lined up along the top, Aang and his flying bison who I had heard called Appa stationed in the middle.

The anticipation was deadly, and we stood for what felt like ages. Just then, a black dot appeared along the horizon and a bright light shot up from it. We all squinted, attempting to identify it. By the time we knew what it was, it was too late. The enormous flame-engulfed boulder slammed into the wall, knocking us off and forming a giant hole in the wall.

Another boulder flew over our heads, this one landing in the city somewhere, and another hit the wall again. I barely saw Aang shoot forward on his bison before they were air born, heading for the source of the boulders – a Fire Navy ship.

I regained my bearings and then began helping the other benders to refortify the wall. Between all of us who helped, we were able to repair the holes rather quickly. I gazed into the sea in front of us where blasts of air and fire were being exchanged.

"We need benders!" I heard someone say, and turned to see Korrik leading a large group of benders toward the boats. I ran forward to join them, and as we sped off, using our bending to increase the speed, I saw the large flying bison land on the ship, knocking someone overboard. We neared the ship and I stood first.

"One, two, three!" I shouted, driving ice up around and into the ship, as the others joined me. With as many of us surrounding the boat, it almost looked like the ice had just crept up around it naturally.

Aang and his bison flew up and we followed his trail, before our eyes were greeted with the enormous fleet of ships waiting in behind the first.

"Oh no…" I managed, stomach dropping heavily.

The benders and I returned to the wall where we pulled out of the boats and joined the other benders to help stop the fireballs from hitting the city and the walls as much as possible. Our combined strength was enough to take out many, but far from all of the giant rocks.

After what seemed like hours of the same attacks, they suddenly stopped. I gazed into the sky, seeing that it was sunset. They knew that we drew our power from the moon. I had to give them credit: the Fire Nation was smart.

As night fell, I was pulled aside by Sokka who seemed a bit annoyed.

"Hakone, I need your help. The chief asked me to guard Yue, but I don't think I can do it alone. Will you help?" He inquired, his large blue eyes determined.

"I will. Where is she?" I asked.

"Yue took Katara and Aang to an oasis. I didn't even know that was possible up here," He explained. My eyes grew wide, wondering why they would need to go _there_ of all places.

"Alright, I know where they are. I can take us to the entrance, but we can't go in unless absolutely necessary," I told him.

"Whatever you say," Sokka nodded. I led him to the entrance, which was a large porthole that would allow for the passage of one person at a time.

"You stay near here, I'm going to walk along the ledge just to make sure no one comes over," I told him, propelling myself to the top ledge with some water.

The oasis, I knew, was the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole. It was incredibly warm there, like sinking into a hot bath. No snow was present, and grass grew along with bamboo. The oasis itself was home to two koi fish, one black and one white, that were said to reflect Tui and La, the Moon and Ocean spirits.

I glanced over the edge, and saw a white glow coming from the center. I made out the shape of an arrow in the light and realized that it was Aang – he must have been in the spirit world. I had forgotten about the Avatar's ability to cross between the human world and the world of the spirits. Perhaps he was seeking advice from Tui and La.

I glanced around again and saw something that I wasn't expecting. In front of me was a boy, well, a teenager, but a boy nevertheless. He had a large red scar over his left eye that also seemed to have deformed his ear, and bright golden eyes. His face was peppered with a few scrapes and bruises, and I wondered where he had collected them. He had his hands raised to attack and I wasn't able to move.

"Who… who are you?" I gasped. The boy seemed taken aback by my question.

"My name is Prince Zuko, heir to the throne of the Fire Nation. And you're in my way," He said, swiping my legs out from under me.

I gasped as I fell, nearly dropping off of the ledge. I grabbed a hold of the ledge and swung myself forward so that I was upright once more.

"What do you want?" I demanded, gazing at him from where he stood looking down at the oasis.

"I want the Avatar. Now get out of my way… so that I don't have to hurt you," He growled.

"You'll have to get through me," I responded, and I felt somewhat apprehensive for some reason. What was going on here? Why was I hesitating to attack this guy? He was just another member of the Fire Nation; I didn't struggle earlier to bust up a ship, so why was I unable to launch an all-out attack on him? 

"I was afraid you'd say that," He said, shaking his head. He turned to face me, and then I could tell that he actually saw me. His eyes softened and he hesitated, just like I had. Then the moment was gone, and he jumped at me. I wasn't able to twist out of his grip; he was wickedly fast. The next moment, he had my hands pinned behind my back, cutting off my ability to bend, and another hand wrapped around my face, cutting off my air supply. "Sorry." I heard him mutter, before everything went black.


	4. Destiny

**A/N: Until now I've kept close to cannon, but in order for the rest of the fic to move along I'm dropping the pretenses of staying fully cannon. I know it's not quite as long as you might like it to be, but hey the less I write the more updates I can pump out in a faster time. Remember, if you liked it, leave a review! I'll be happy to listen to anything you have to say, whether it's praise or criticism!**

I came to, hearing the sounds of rushing water and crackling fire. I hadn't been out long, just enough for Yue to run off to Sokka who I could see trying to lead her away from the oasis. I pulled myself up and ran to the other side of the wall where I could see Katara and the fire nation boy, Zuko, fighting.

Zuko had gotten past Katara and was near Aang. Without much thought, I found myself rushing forward and with Katara we sent him back, pushing the water up and around him so that he was frozen and unable to move.

"Hakone!" Katara said, looking at me. "Where did you come from?"

"He suffocated me long enough to get me to pass out," I explained, looking from her to him.

Just when I thought I would be able to make sense of what was going on, the sunrise broke over the edge of the horizon. Oh no…

Steam began to rice off of the ice where Zuko was trapped and it melted. He looked up at us, his face serious and determined.

"You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun," He growled, launching an attack at the both of us.

Unprepared, we both pulled water up to stop the attack but were unsuccessful at it. The force of the blow flew Katara backward and I landed on my back. I glanced up, pulling the water and found he had a hold on Aang's shirt, holding him up.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away," the prince snarled, turning away.

"Maybe I don't," I responded, lashing out with the water I had ready. It smacked him away from the Avatar and he turned to face me.

"Bring it on then!" He snarled, launching fireballs toward me. I pulled a wall of ice up to absorb them, dodging out of the way and then pulled water around us, tightening it so that we had to step closer.

He lashed out and I used the water to grab his arms and legs so that he was suspended by it and then delivered a force strong enough to knock him out.

I let the water return to the oasis and then carried Aang back to his place in front of the oasis. Just as I turned to assess the rest of the situation, Katara was waking up from where she had fainted.

"What happened?" She asked. I didn't answer her but instead went to see Zuko. I knew I had knocked him out and I wanted to make sure I didn't do any permanent damage. Something about the boy was throwing me off.

I knelt beside him and made sure that he was okay before I dragged him over near the oasis with Aang.

"How did Zuko get here?" Katara asked, eyeing him with distaste.

"I'm not sure, but we need to keep an eye on him," I said.

"We'll have to do that away from the oasis," Katara said.

"I agree. Let's get them – both of them – out of here,"

Katara lifted Aang and I lifted Zuko, carrying them out of the oasis and heading for one of the healing huts. I closed the door and sat down, watching the two unconscious boys.

Although the Avatar had been the savior that the world was looking for to help us rid ourselves of this war, the other, the son of the Fire Lord, held my attention more.

Why was he after the Avatar? It was like his life depended on capturing Aang, but I didn't understand why.

"Do you know why he's chasing Aang?" I asked Katara, nodding to Zuko.

"It has something to do with that scar and his father, that's all I know," Katara explained.

Just then, Aang breathed in heavily, and I watched Katara's eyes flit to his face. I could see in that one glance how much the boy must mean to her.

"We don't have long before nightfall," I mentioned. "By then we will have the power to drive the Fire Nation out of here."

"I've always noticed that my water bending is stronger at night, and even more when there's a full moon," Katara responded.

"That's because we draw our power from the moon. And because of where we are in the world, the North and South poles receive more nights than we receive daylight," I told her. "We only have another hour or so before the sun goes down."

And so began our wait.

I was left questioning myself and Zuko. Why had the both of us hesitated to attack the other earlier? Our two elements were natural opposites, and since the war had started, made us natural enemies.

But when I looked at the Fire Prince, I didn't see evil. I saw a frightened boy. I saw the inherent goodness that was within him, and I knew that with the right kind of affection and love, he could be good. But that didn't explain why he had hesitated.

My silent reverie was broken by Zuko waking up. He sat up, putting his hands in his head before looking up at me. For a moment, I was glad that Katara had gone to use the bathroom. It gave me the chance to speak to him.

"I'm sorry about that," I said. He glanced up at me, golden eyes full of confusion.

"Why did you hesitate? On the wall?" Zuko asked, his brow furrowing.

"I could ask you the same question, prince Zuko," I stated simply. He looked taken aback and then his face became deadly calm. "Why are you chasing the Avatar?"

"For my honor," He said truthfully, without hesitation. "My father banished me until I can capture him and take him to the Fire Nation."

"And you think that this will restore your honor? Zuko your honor is not something that someone can give you. It is yours alone. You must learn to actively shape your destiny."

"You don't know anything." Zuko said icily.

"I may not know you, but I know that you're not evil," I said. His eyes widened and then his gaze dropped to the floor.

There was a moment of silence when he looked back up at me, his golden gaze burrowing into my blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," He said again, and this time I could tell he meant it. He jumped up, spinning around and creating a large fire. I pulled the ice from the ground up around me so that it wouldn't hit and then forced the water back around him, flinging him against a wall. Just as I was about to attack once more, the sound of movement behind me caught my attention.

"Aang!" I said, slightly happy to see he was awake. I pulled on the water, getting ready to throw it toward Zuko whose face was a mixture of confusion when the water fell from my grasp and onto the floor. What was going on?

A red light filled the hut and I heard Aang groan, pressing a hand to his head. I took my eyes off of Zuko and when I looked up again, he was gone.

Katara ran into the room, looking around at the destruction. "What happened?" She gasped.

"Zuko woke up," I stated then kneeled beside Aang.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"There's something wrong with the Moon and Ocean spirits. They're in trouble!" He said. We ran out of the house, finding Yue, Sokka, and Appa waiting for us. We got on him and flew over the wall, finding members of the Fire Nation in front of the koi pond.

"Zhao, don't." Aang said, his face and tone more serious than I had ever heard. Zhao, the man Aang had addressed, held a wet bag in his hand, and as I glanced into the pond, the white koi was missing, the black one swimming chaotically.

"It is my destiny to destroy the moon spirit and the water tribe," Zhao said with conviction, eyeing the Avatar, his fist raised ready to strike.

"Killing the moon spirit won't just destroy the water tribe. It'll destroy you as well. It will throw the world out of balance," Aang argued. Then a new voice entered the conversation.

"He's right Zhao," An old man said. The others seemed to know who he was.

"General Iroh, why am I not surprised to see your treachery?"

"I'm no traitor Zhao. The Fire Nation depends on the moon spirit too Zhao. Let it go. Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold! Let it go, now!" Iroh growled, his voice full of anger.

Zhao bowed his head and the released the fish back into the pond. The two swam around each other and the moon released its red hue before becoming normal again. Zhao's eyes remained closed for a moment before he struck out angrily. I felt a wave of pain and nausea wrack my body and then everything went dark. Zhao had killed the moon.

Iroh flew forward, flames flying from his hands and feet, taking out the fire benders with Zhao, who had vanished in that moment.

We ran forward, full of shock at what had just occurred. In that moment… life seemed at an end.

XXX

After Yue sacrificed herself to give life to the Moon, and Aang had worked with the spirit of the Ocean to take out the Fire Navy fleet, things seemed very different. We couldn't be sure that everything was over, but after a few days of helping to restore things and not seeing a single fire bender, we were confident that things were returning to the way they were.

Pakku had decided to go to the Southern Water Tribe along with a few others, like Korrik. I had declined his offer when he asked me to go. I didn't know what my destiny would hold for me, but going to the South Pole didn't seem like the right direction to take. I wished them luck on their journey.

I went to see Aang and his friends, surprised to see that they, too, were packing up to move along.

"Leaving so soon?" I called in a friendly greeting. They waved me over and Aang jumped off of Appa's head to land in front of me.

"Yeah, we need to get going. I have to find someone to teach me earth bending," He explained, leaning up against his bison's foreleg.

"Earth bending? You haven't mastered water bending yet," I pointed out, and Aang blushed.

"I think I've been doing pretty well," He muttered.

"You have, yes. I see a lot of talent and promise within you, pupil Aang," I said, using a fake Pakku impression.

"Thank you for your words, Master Hakone," Aang bowed, then smiled.

"Where will you be going first?" I asked.

"I think we're going to Omashu. I have an old friend there who I think will consider teaching me," the young nomad said.

"Hey Hakone, what would you say to joining us? I still need some work on my bending myself, and that would give Aang a real master to learn from," Katara noted, coming near us.

"That's a great idea Katara!" Aang said, looking up to me expectantly.

Going off with the Avatar and his friends… did that sound like my destiny? I closed my eyes for a moment, thinking.

"Avatar Aang, it would be an honor to travel with you and to be your teacher. I will do what I can and help in any way," I finally decided, bowing to him.

"Well, you can just call me Aang you know," He laughed, jumping back up on Appa's head.

"Go gather what you need. We'll leave in a few hours," Katara smiled.

I did as she said, returning to my home. I explained to my parents what I was going to do, and my mother cried, pulling me into her grasp.

"Be careful," She finally managed, bustling off. I looked at my father, whose eyes were a bit misty.

"I'm proud of you Hakone," He said gruffly, pulling me into a hug.

"Thanks dad," I replied. I kissed my siblings good bye before grabbing up a pack, filling it with extra clothes, and as I was about to walk out, my mother shoved another pack in my hands.

"Food for your journey," She said. She placed a hand on my check lovingly, then pulled me into another hug.

"I love you," I called as I walked out of my house, glancing into the sky. The flying bison was hovering above the house and landed in front of it.

"Are you ready? We need to get going," Sokka called. I waved at my family as they crowded the door of my home and headed to Appa, tossing the packs up to Sokka who went to secure them in the saddle bags.

"Ready?" Aang asked, and I nodded. "Alright. Appa, yip yip!"


	5. The Calm Before The Storm

**A/N: I decided to write this chapter with Zuko's point of view on things this time too; to alleviate some confusion, I also decided to change the narration type. We will also dip into Hakone's point of view again. I hope you enjoy! As always, leaving reviews will inspire faster writing – and I really want to know what you all think!**

XXX

Prince Zuko ignored the ramblings of his uncle. The two of them had managed to sail on a makeshift raft from a piece of driftwood and a torn cloth, bringing them out of the treacherous northern waters and into familiar territories. They were residing within a Fire Nation colony, where the two had had ample time to relax.

The son of the Fire Lord kept his head down underneath the wide-brimmed hat that was customary for Earth Kingdom citizens. He was brooding, and his uncle sensed that there was something more than idle day dreaming going on in the head of his nephew.

"I see… it's the anniversary, isn't it," Iroh said, standing and walking to sit with Zuko after having been massaged.

"Three years ago, I lost everything, and I want it back…" Zuko said angrily, snarling at nothing and everything at the same time. But, as Zuko reflected on his sense of being and what he had to do, he couldn't help but think back to his defeat at the Northern Water Tribe.

Why, he wondered, had he hesitated to take out that water bender? It should have been easy, like snuffing a candle. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to actually attack the boy. It had been hard enough for Zuko to make the boy pass out, and he shuddered to think of how hard it would have been to actually bring harm to him.

There was something within him that had stirred when he made eye contact with him. Those deep blue eyes, holding the innocence of his age as well as the wise strengths and powers that came with being a master, which he had discovered the boy was upon joining Katara, and then later on when he had woken in the hut.

Still, it troubled the young prince that he hadn't outright attacked the enemy… no, not enemy; that was the wrong word to describe him. He didn't know how to think about the Water Tribe boy. He usually ignored those around him unless they were his own men, which he rarely glanced at, or unless they were his uncle or the Avatar. So why did seeing the boy cause such unrest and unease within him, as though he were at war with himself for attacking him?

Deciding that he needed to go for a walk, he stood, leaving his uncle behind. The smell of cherry blossoms from the trees around them was everywhere, and calming his mind. He could live like this, he thought, without worry, and with the tranquility of the colony that helped to clear his thoughts and leave him calm and relaxed.

XXX

I had never beyond the walls of the Northern Water Tribe, and I found myself gazing in awe at everything around us as we flew over the Earth Kingdom lands below. Everything was full of color and I had never seen anything like it; growing up surrounded by ice and water, there was no natural formations that weren't gray, white, blue or mildly green or purple.

But here, in the Earth Kingdoms, all of the colors existed. Everything from rich browns to lush greens, from the blue of the sky and rivers that snaked through the land to the multitudes of shades hues that existed in the flowers that dotted here and there could be seen from our vantage point on Appa.

"I've never seen such beauty," I commented as we soared through the air. Aang looked around and smiled largely at me.

"It is beautiful," the air bender agreed. He held my gaze for a few moments, and I wasn't entirely sure what passed between us. His gray eyes were unreadable, although they sparkled brightly with happiness and energy.

"There!" Sokka called, looking down at a formation that I had missed. A giant stone building rose from the green forest around it and that must have been our destination. The Water Tribe had arranged for General Fong to escort us to Omashu, where Aang would begin his training with his friend, King Bumi.

Aang returned his gaze in order to guide Appa down for a landing, and I gazed around us, still admiring the land of the Earth Kingdom. As we got off of Appa, stretching and on my part, yawning, someone called out "Avatar Aang!"

We turned, greeted by a man with a large beard. "Welcome, all of you! Appa, Momo, Brave Sokka, the Mighty Katara, the Powerful Hakone, and of course the Avatar, it is an honor to have you here!" He called. Just then a loud bang erupted over our heads, and we looked up to see fireworks flash in the sky.

"Nice!" Sokka exclaimed, smile wide. Aang and Katara smiled too, and I could tell Aang was a bit embarrassed by this overly-warm reception. I wondered what this general would have in store for us.

"I am General Fong. Welcome!" He said when the fireworks came to a stop.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Aang smiled. General Fong bowed, and then stepped aside, raising a hand.

"If you'll follow me, I will take you to your quarters,"

XXX

Prince Zuko woke from his nap, breathing in the calming breeze that pervaded the area that they were staying in. He allowed himself, for just a moment, to relax, not thinking of anything important. He allowed himself to get lost in just the world around him.

That was when the memory of his dream from the nap came back to him.

He had been standing on a beach, holding someone's hand, the contact of their touch sending waves of warmth through him. He had glanced from the waves of the ocean to find himself staring deeply into eyes of the same color.

The eyes… where had he seen them before?

Zuko stood up, stretching and gazing out through the window of the room he stayed in. That was when he decided to go visit his uncle.

Iroh was carrying a bag into the room he stayed in, and splayed them out on a table as Zuko walked up.

"Look at these magnificent shells," The old man said, holding one up. "I'll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come."

"We don't need any more useless things. You forget, we have to carry everything ourselves now," Zuko admonished, his tone annoyed.

"Hello, brother. Uncle," The last voice Zuko wanted to hear in that moment said. His head shot forward, glaring into the corner of the room where it had come from. Azula. What was _she_ doing here?

Zuko took a step forward, his eyes narrowing. "What are _you_ doing here?" He asked, his voice guarded.

"In my country, we exchange a pleasant hello before asking questions," Azula said, her brow furrowing. "Have you become uncivilized so soon, Zuzu?" She taunted, using the infuriating nickname she had for him.

"Don't call me that!" The Fire Prince shouted, snarling.

"To what do we owe this honor?" Iroh asked carefully, attempting to defuse the tension, but wary at the same time of his niece.

"Hm, must be a family trait," Azula noticed, smiling. "Both of you so quick to get to the point. I've come with a message from home. Father's changed his mind; family is suddenly very important to him. He's heard rumors of plans to overthrow him. Treacherous plots. Family are the only ones you can really trust."

A moment passed and Azula looked away from her family members to gaze out the window.

"Father regrets your banishment. He wants you home," She said. Zuko couldn't believe what he was hearing, and his hesitation prompted his sister to speak again. "Did you hear me? You should be happy, excited, grateful; I just gave you great news."

"I'm sure your brother just needs a moment to – "Iroh began before Azula cut him off angrily.

"Don't interrupt, Uncle!" She hissed. "I still haven't heard my thank you. I'm not a messenger, I didn't have to come all this way." Azula said to Zuko, walking to stand beside him.

"Father regrets… He wants me back?" Zuko replied confused.

"I can see you need time to take this in," Azula noticed. "I'll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening."

Zuko bowed his head, his thoughts a mixture of confusion and pain. And there amongst the storm were the blue eyes that were haunting his dreams.

XXX

"Can I talk to you?" I asked Aang as we were settling down for the night. Aang nodded, standing up and we walked outside into the night air, the stars twinkling above us. Even the night was different here, blanketed in rich color.

"What's up?" He asked, and I took a moment to collect my thoughts.

"I'm not sure if you should do this – I mean, trying to bring on the Avatar State. I'm not saying that it doesn't hold incredible power; what I witnessed at the North Pole was beyond amazing. But I am worried, because when you entered it, you entered it because you were in great pain and the world was thrown out of balance. You entered it because of the anger you felt and the overwhelming desire you felt to correct it. Seeing you in that state was terrifying," I told him.

He glanced at me, his gray eyes heavy. I hadn't seen him so serious since the incident at the North Pole when he had went to be with the Ocean spirit.

"Thank you for telling me that," Aang said. "But I have to do this; you don't understand – every day more and more people die, and it's my job to correct the balance of the world. If I can defeat the Fire Lord it will restore that balance."

"I can't watch you do this to yourself, Aang," I told him.

"I understand and appreciate your concern," The young monk said, and then wrapped his hands around me in an embrace. "But I need to do this."

"I will support you, but I can't guarantee that I'll come. I don't want to even _think_ about what it will take to make you enter the Avatar State," I responded, hugging him back.

"Thank you."

Then the moment ended, and he left. I stared into the sky, wondering about everything and nothing at the same time. When I returned to our quarters, the others were already asleep. I layed on my bed and Momo crawled onto my chest, curling up to sleep. I scratched his ears absentmindedly and slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

My dreams that night were filled with the memory of my encounter with the Fire Prince. I couldn't help but think that there was something… different about him compared to the other fire benders I had seen during the siege.

When I woke, the smoldering gold of his gaze was on the forefront of my mind.

"Will you be coming?" Aang asked as I sat up, and I looked at him, my face stony.

"I'll come along…" I answered, and I heard Katara huff annoyed.

"Let me know how things go," She said to me as I passed, quietly so that only I could hear. "And if things start getting out of hand, step in."

"Don't worry; I will," I responded to her.

**A/N: Okay so I don't know why I decided to suddenly have Aang showing affection for Hakone, but don't worry, their relationship won't develop much aside from Aang's growing sense of affection for him. Eventually I'll have to solve that little plot device. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and as always make sure that you review!**


	6. Discovery

**A/N: Hey guys, I just got home from my semester at college; finals week was killer. From here on out, expect at MOST two updates a week. If I start getting more reviews… then we'll see how things go, and I **_**might**_** upload more than that. But we'll have to see; the internet at my house is killing us all slowly.**

**I'm taking out the Cave of Lovers; I really despise that episode. And I'm changing the way Return to Omashu works. This way we can get the show on the road. Also I kind of liked having Zuko's point of view, so we'll see some more of it in this chapter.**

**Now look, I know it's a short chapter, so don't decapitate me. But I also have work now that I'm back home. I have some limited free time.**

**Remember to keep leaving reviews!**

XXX

"Aang!" I called, my eyes wide with fear. The general, in his desperate attempts to get Aang to enter the Avatar State, had ordered his troops to attack us. General Fong had me sinking into the ground, and was encasing me slowly by a foot or so at a time.

"Hakone! General Fong, please let him go please!" Aang yelled.

"Not until you're in the Avatar State." Fong said mercilessly, squeezing his hand. I sank further into the ground, jerking hard. I looked up at Aang worried. I was now chest deep, my hands bound within the earth.

"I'm trying! Please stop!" He cried, falling to his knees.

"I don't see glowing!" Fong laughed maniacally, then squeezing his hand, I was shoved under the earth. The last sight I saw was Aang crumpled at Fong's feet, crying.

I heard a distant rumble in the earth and then suddenly I was jerked out and landed on my knees, breathing heavily from the lack of oxygen.

"Hakone!" Katara yelled suddenly in my ear. "What happened?"

"Fong went crazy and nearly killed me to get Aang to enter the Avatar State!" I screamed back, and looked up as Aang was encased in a large orb of air. He slammed General Fong backward and he disappeared in a heap. Then after throwing most of the troops away as well, he calmed down, exiting the State, and dropped to the ground.

"Aang!" Katara gasped, running to him. I sat back, steadying my breaths as Sokka ran up to us.

"Are you okay?" He asked, kneeling beside me.

"Yeah I'm fine. Make sure that Aang's okay," I told him.

In a way, I was thankful that Aang had entered the Avatar State, because it had saved my life; but I was furious that my near-death experience had caused it. As I realized that I could have died, I blacked out.

When I came to, the three of my friends were surrounding me. I hadn't been out long, I realized, because we were still in the yard of the base.

"Are you okay?" Aang asked, looking at me with wide eyes.

"I'm fine," I smiled weakly. "We should get out of here."

"Avatar Aang, I'm sorry for what happened. Do you still want an escort to Omashu?" One of the guards asked.

"I don't think so. We'll make it on our own," He responded icily. The guard bowed and then sped away as quickly as he could without running.

XXX

We had been flying for a long time and I was beginning to wonder if Aang even knew where he was going.

"Aang, how much longer do we have until we reach Omashu? I getting restless," I inquired. I had found that my place on Appa was at the head of the saddle right behind Aang.

"I don't think it'll take much longer," He said, smiling up at me.

"If you say so; as soon as we can, you need to start training your Water Bending again," I told him. He smiled and then turned around.

The next hour was spent in silence before Aang exclaimed "We're almost there!"

"We should probably land in that clearing, just in case," Sokka said.

"Yip yip!" Aang called, and Appa swung down, landing in a large valley at the base of some mountains.

"You're going to love Omashu. King Bumi is a bit crazy, but it's a really great city," Aang told me happily as we climbed the mountain.

"Don't worry, we're only going to be staying as long as it takes Aang to master Earth Bending," Sokka said. We had finally reached the pinnacle of the mountain and Sokka turned to face us. "I give you the Earth Kingdom city of Oma- oh no…" He trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Aang asked, looking up at the city. Katara and I came up on it moments later and we could see exactly what was wrong. Omashu had been captured by the Fire Nation. A giant Fire Nation emblem was hanging over the city walls, and it appeared that a giant statue of the Fire Lord was being erected in the middle of the city.

"What are we going to do now? King Bumi has probably been captured," Katara asked.

"We have to go in and save him!" Aang said, his expression furious.

"Aang we can't just barge into a city that's been overrun by the Fire Nation," I said.

"I know you had your hopes set on Bumi to teach you, but there are plenty of great Earth Benders that can teach you," Sokka mentioned.

"No. We can't just turn our backs on these people, they need our help. I've been gone for one hundred years – I've let enough people down," Aang said solemnly.

"Alright, but how are we going to get in? The Fire Nation is bound to have guards at the gates," Sokka relented.

"Let me think…" Aang told us, closing his eyes. For a moment we didn't say anything, and then his eyes snapped open. "There's a secret entrance into Omashu, but you're not going to like it."

"Why didn't we take it the last time?" Sokka exclaimed.

"You'll see why," Aang muttered, his nose wrinkling.

XXX

Prince Zuko sat in his room, meditating. Iroh had told him more than once that the key to Fire Bending was not anger or hate, but through breath. Fire had the power to destroy and was sometimes uncontrollable, that was true, but it was also the physical manifestation of life and creation.

"Prince Zuko," Iroh spoke, his voice crashing Zuko's concentration. He had been so in tune in those few minutes, that he hadn't even heard his uncle enter the room. He jolted violently, turning on his uncle.

"What do you want, I was concentrating." Zuko said aggressively.

"I came to tell you that I have an idea of where the Avatar might be located," Iroh replied calmly, unperturbed by his nephew's outburst.

Zuko raised an eyebrow, and resumed focusing on his breathing. They had been off track for a few weeks after what happened between them and his sister Azula had attempted to capture them. After the debacle and they had escaped, the two had cut their hair, to show just how much they had forsaken their country.

"Uncle… I don't think that capturing the Avatar is what I am meant to do anymore," the Fire Prince said calmly. Iroh's jaw dropped, and he stared at his nephew.

"Zuko…" Iroh started. Three years. They had spent three years in banishment from Zuko's father and Iroh's brother. Ozai had ordered that Zuko wasn't allowed to enter the Fire Nation until he had captured the Avatar. Zuko hadn't rested since.

"I don't think it is my destiny to capture the Avatar, Uncle," Zuko said. "But where do you think he is? There's something I need to talk to you about."

"I believe that he is headed for the Earth Kingdom City of Omashu. He needs someone to teach him Earth Bending," Iroh told him. "Now what is it you wish to discuss?"

"Something happened while I was in the North Pole trying to capture the Avatar, something that I don't understand. There was a boy. He was guarding the entrance to the oasis. I should have been able to have taken him out without worry, but something stopped me. I couldn't harm him. I knew that. So I made him hold his breath until he passed out, left him on the roof, and tried to get the Avatar, but that stupid Water Tribe girl got in the way. It took too long; the boy had gotten up and threw me into a giant ice container. So I waited for the sun to rise and attacked again. But this time, the boy knocked me out. When I came to, we were in some kind of hut thing and I didn't want to attack him, but I did so that I could escape. Now I've been plagued by dreams of him ever since,"

"Prince Zuko. I think that this is something that you need to think about. Dwell on it. Let the thoughts of everything that occurred run through your mind. What importance does that play in your destiny? Whatever the outcome, I know that you'll make the right decision." Iroh said, patting him gently on the shoulder.


	7. Decisions

**A/N: I see all of you following and favorite; but I don't see many reviews! I've only had two reviews since chapter three went up (Thank you!). Please, please consider posting a review! It helps me know whether or not you're actually enjoying the story and how things are going, what you like and what you don't like, and guides me in the writing process. I'm trying to move things along, so we can get into the meat of the story. We'll be beginning this chapter from Zuko's point of view. Here we go!**

XXX

_The blue eyes flashed brilliantly, and the Fire Prince couldn't look away. Their gaze held some kind of unspoken power, blue and gold never wavering. There was something about him, Zuko knew, that was important. He didn't know what it could be, but he knew that it was there nonetheless._

_The Water Tribe boy turned, facing out to the ocean; waves crashed onto the shore where they were standing beside each other. Zuko watched him, taking in every detail. He was so calm; how was it that Zuko didn't know his name?_

_He took a hesitant step forward, and then stopped. He was looking at him again, with those large blue eyes. He seemed to be questioning the Fire Prince's hesitation. Zuko didn't know why he was so reluctant to go near him but he was. The boy opened his mouth to speak._

"Zuko!" Iroh said, bringing Zuko out of his sleep. The teenager groaned, looking up irritably at his uncle.

"I was sleeping," He mumbled.

"I know. That's why I woke you; we're almost at Omashu," The old man told him, looking at his nephew fondly.

They had been travelling with a caravan of Earth Kingdom citizens under the pretense that they were war refugees. A man named Karo had been generous enough to let them ride in an extra wagon that he had that was storing their feed for the animals; Zuko and Iroh had found the most comfortable sacks that they could and made makeshift beds by piling them together.

"How long will it be before we get there?" Zuko asked, thinking about his dream. Again with the Northern Water Bender. What was it about him that haunted Zuko's dreams? That made him so anxious to see the other?

"When we make camp tonight, we will have to stow away; Omashu is under the control of the Fire Nation – anyone could recognize you and then our cover would be blown. The good people of the Earth Kingdom we travel with, they won't stop at Omashu; they'll go straight past it and continue on to Ba Sing Se," Iroh explained.

"And you're sure that the Avatar and his friends will be there?" Zuko inquired. Not that he didn't trust his uncle, he just needed to be sure; he only had one shot to try to get to the bottom of it all, and if he messed up then he would never know.

"I'm sure. What will you do? After everything that they have been through at our expense, I hardly think that they will want to stand around for a chat," Iroh asked, his face serious.

"If I can just get to the water bender, the others can go; it's him that I need to speak with, not the Avatar,"

"Prince Zuko, you know as well as I do that the Avatar will not let you leave with the boy. He holds his friends dear to him," Iroh admonished, and Zuko nodded in response before sighing heavily. He glanced into the sky, wondering at how dark it was becoming. The sunset was beautiful, he thought. It reminded him of dying embers, and for some reason, his mother.

His mother… she had been such a strong, kind and caring woman. Everything about her had been gentle in his thoughts and memories of her. He had thought that she must have done something wrong towards Ozai, perhaps offended him in some way, and that had caused her to be sent away.

They stopped quickly after, and Zuko was relieved when Iroh told him that Omashu was on the other side of the mountain that they were camped at the bottom of. They helped set up the camp, partook of the food that Karo made, and waited for the rest of the camp to fall asleep before they stole away into the night.

XXX

It might have been the single most ridiculous idea that I had ever seen, but it was working nevertheless. We had entered Omashu through a sewage line, and found the people of the city to be oppressed by the Fire Nation living within in. We had been taken to meet with the leader of the resistance and Aang came up with the idea to use "pentapox" a made up disease we created by sticking little squid onto the body and causing a 'rash' from the suckers.

Under the guise of the moon, we organized those that wished to leave the city and marched onward toward the city gates. The citizens were great actors. Pretending to have a plague was simple enough; no one was coming close enough to see if it were actually a problem.

We had made it out of the city and were currently camped somewhere amongst the mountain pass – but we had found a slight problem. The son of the Fire Nation governor had somehow managed to get caught up in our group.

"Well we can't just waltz back in there and give the boy back. 'Sorry we took your son, please don't imprison us!'" Sokka told us, his tone and expression annoyed.

"Well Sokka I hate to tell you this, but we can't keep a toddler," I admonished, holding him on my lap and trying to keep him from wondering off. "Besides, he doesn't seem all that dangerous."

"He might not look dangerous right now, but that's because he's a baby. Give him twenty years and he'll be in the Fire Nation army," Sokka argued.

"I hope this war doesn't last for another twenty years," Katara said despondently.

A moment of quiet passed over us and then a piercing tone sounded through the camp. We looked up to see a messenger hawk land in front of us, a message attached to it. Aang went to fetch it and then returned to us, his face stony.

"The governor wants to make a trade. His son, for King Bumi,"

"He wants to _trade_? How much of a nightmare is this man?" I asked.

"Well in his mind we kidnapped his son," Sokka said.

"Well we're going to have to figure out something; I need Bumi to teach me Earth Bending," Aang said, his thoughts decided.

"We'll have to figure out a plan. We can't just barge in," Katara said.

"You might not have to," A voice called. An icy chill ran down my spine as I recognized who it was. I tensed, and Aang, Sokka, and Katara jumped up, prepared to fight.

I gently put the toddler down and stood up quickly, hoping that the boy wouldn't be in too much trouble.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Katara demanded, her eyes narrow with suspicion.

Zuko entered the light of the fire, and I was surprised to see that his hands were raised not to fight, but in surrender. Close behind him was an older man who I recognized from the fiasco in the Northern Water Tribe only weeks ago. It hit me then, that this man, General Iroh if I remembered properly, must have been the uncle that Katara had told me about.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just want to talk," He said.

"Right, and why should we believe you?" Katara asked, laughing without any mirth.

"If you don't want to listen to him, would you listen to me?" Iroh asked. Despite being a member of the Fire Nation, I remembered his actions during the catastrophe at the Northern Water Tribe and how he had been nearly as broken as we had been when Zhao had attacked the Moon Spirit.

"I think we should at least listen to them," I tried, watching the pair. I barely glanced at Iroh because my attention was drawn toward Zuko. His golden eyes were trained on me as well it seemed. "I mean, why wouldn't they just attack like they normally would if they meant to do us any harm?"

I turned my gaze away from Zuko for a moment to glance at Aang; they young monk's eyes were narrowed, watching the two in front of us carefully. There was a long pause and the only sounds were the crackling fire and the occasional giggle from the governor's son as he chased Momo.

"Alright fine. But if you make one wrong move, I _will_ attack you," He said, lowering his staff. For a moment, Zuko seemed relieved, and took a deep breath.

""I have been thinking. My Uncle has been council for me. For the longest time I was chasing you because I believed that capturing you was the only way to restore my honor. I had a revelation though, just after a unfortunate run-in with my sister. I've realized how vile the Fire Nation has become; I don't think I should capture you; I think I should join you and help you take down my father," My eyes grew large as I watched and listened to him. I could tell that royalty ran in his veins. His speech was captivating. Again I was reminded of the inherent goodness that resided within him.

"If you think we can just let you join us after everything you have put us through, you've got another thing coming," Katara snarled.

"Please, take a moment to consider. Zuko and I are two of the only decent members of the Fire Nation left, and we are both Fire Benders, which the Avatar will need if he is going to defeat my brother," Iroh interrupted.

I was surprised. Iroh had a very calm personality, and I could see how good he was. Something told me that he was just as much a victim of this war as we were. The others fell quiet as Aang deliberated in his thoughts. After what seemed like a very long pause, Aang shrugged.

"Okay, fine; but if you make one wrong move, then you're out," He said. He opened his staff and flew away, much to the surprise of the rest of us. Katara shouted something unintelligible and then walked away steaming. Sokka shrugged and walked away, and I went to lay down. So much had just occurred, and I wasn't prepared to handle any of it.

That night was full of tossing and turning for me. The person who had filled my dreams was within my reach, and I couldn't rest. When I finally managed to fall asleep, I dreamed of Zuko standing beside me on a beach, both of us just out the other's grasp.

The next morning, I woke up and yawned heavily, feeling drained and just worn out. I pulled myself out of my tent and headed toward the long-dead fire where Zuko and Iroh were still sleeping. I glanced at Zuko, wondering at how peaceful he looked. All of the worry and stress seemed to be erased from him while he slept. My observation of him was cut short however when his eyes flashed open.

I glanced away quickly, hoping that he hadn't caught me watching him, and made my way to sit down.

"Good morning," I said idly. He didn't say anything in response, but sat up nevertheless. He took in a deep breath and then thrust out a hand to set fire to the dull embers. "You may not want to do that; if someone sees you Fire Bending out here they won't take too kindly. We might be separate from the rest of the citizens of Omashu, but that doesn't mean that no one will see you."

He didn't say anything, but this time he glanced up at me, his golden eyes watching me, the lights of the fire flickering in them. I blushed heavily and glanced downward. The others soon joined us, and Katara didn't say a word during the entire time we were together. She tended to the governor's son and that was pretty much it.

"We need to go exchange the kid for Bumi," Sokka finally said after the awkwardness of it all pressured us into silence.

"You're going to exchange the son of a Fire Nation Governor for the Earth King? The governor must be desperate," Iroh said, stroking his beard.

"Or he actually cares about his son," Zuko said quietly. No one responded after that, and we again fell into silence.

"We're just gonna have to get this over with. Zuko, I think it would be best if you and Iroh stayed here and let us take care of this. Since you're now against the Fire Nation, I don't think it would be much of a good idea for you to be seen," Aang said.

"I agree," Iroh dissented.

"They shouldn't be left by themselves," Sokka said. "Why don't we let Hakone stay with them? He's a master Water Bender, he can take care of himself. If this way we can test them; if they can make it and Hakone doesn't have a problem by the time we get back, then we know that we can trust them. Good idea?"

"That's actually a really good idea. No offense, but I trust Hakone's judgment over them," Katara said.

"So then it's settled. We'll go trade, and these two will stay with Hakone. Sound good Aang?" Sokka asked.

The monk nodded and then stood up. "Bumi… we're coming for you," He spoke, more to himself than to anyone else. As they prepared to leave, I couldn't imagine what the next few hours would have in store. I was equally terrified… and excited.


	8. Conversations

**A/N: Sooooooooooooooooooooooo let's go! Remember that you can control the amount of updates that I put up based on the reviews that I receive!**

**Also, featuring this chapter: General Iroh! I took some liberties with Iroh… I hope you enjoy what I've done with him. Also, Zuko's point of view is returning.**

XXX

To say that a day spent with a supposedly changed Zuko and Iroh would be awkward would be an enormous understatement. After Aang, Katara, and Sokka left, the three of us had remained around the fire. Iroh was humming a tune that I didn't know and assumed came from the Fire Nation, I was gazing at anywhere but them, and Zuko didn't seem able to take his eyes off of me. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Iroh stretched and stood up.

"I think I will go for a walk," He said, then walked off toward the trail that wound its way around the mountain.

"Iroh, do you really think that you should wander off by yourself? What if someone recognizes you?" I asked. He paused and then laughed.

"Don't worry, I don't think that there's going to be anyone up here that would know me," He responded before walking off. Once more, silence enveloped us, and I closed my eyes, focusing on my breathing.

After a few moments, I heard movement and looked up to see Zuko shifting from the lounging position that he had been occupying into a sitting position.

"You shouldn't worry so much," The Fire Bender said after a moment.

"What?" I asked, looking at him.

"You shouldn't worry so much," He said again. "I'm not going to do anything."

"I wasn't worried about that," I told him, regretting my words.

"Oh? Then what _are_ you worrying about?" He inquired.

"Nothing for you to worry _yourself_ over," I answered, too quickly, and his eyes narrowed.

"You're lying," He said. "Whatever it is you aren't telling me most definitely concerns me. I can tell by the way you haven't been looking at me," He spoke quietly.

"So what?" I retaliated. "You've been doing nothing _but_ look at me since you showed up."

He didn't respond for a second, thinking I guessed.

"That would be because I've been thinking about what happened between us at the North Pole," He said, a serious tone in his voice.

I blinked a few times, eyes wide with surprise. He'd been thinking about it too?

"You mean when you attacked me?"

"You mean when I hesitated to attack you. I really only did because at the time I was too focused on capturing the Avatar to think properly," He responded. His words caught me even further off guard and the only thing that I could think to say was:

"His name is Aang," _stupid_ I thought.

"I'm sorry?" He questioned uncertainly.

"Aang. We all have names; you should probably get used to using them,"

"I just told you that I didn't want to attack or hurt you, and _that's_ how you respond?" He asked, his voice sounding hurt.

"You caught me off guard – I didn't know what to say," I told him, wrapping my arms around my legs. "If I'm telling the truth, I didn't want to attack you either. You're a Fire Bender, after all, and your Nation was invading my home at the time. I should have been able to have taken you out, no problem. But the moment I saw you, something stopped me."

I bit my lip, waiting for his response, whatever it would be.

"I… I experienced something similar," He managed after a few moments of silence. I looked up at him quickly; he was watching me too.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Something in the back of my mind told me that I shouldn't hurt you; that somehow, you would be important to my future. I didn't understand at the time and I didn't have the time to think about it because I was occupied with capturing… Aang," He said. "I told Uncle about everything and he seems to think that you're going to play a role in my destiny."

"What do you mean _everything_?" I asked, watching him carefully. His eyes widened for a moment then gazed into the fire.

"I've been having dreams… about you," He said. "Standing just out of my reach, on some beach that I don't recognize."

"What?" I started. He had been having the same kind of dream as me?

"It's kind of awkward, I know…" He said.

"No it isn't that… I've actually had the same dream," I told him. He looked up at me, and in that moment I could feel something lock into place. In his eyes I saw a million different things and yet none of it made sense to me. What could possibly be in store for us?

XXX

Iroh never really thought that the Avatar and his friends would not accept them; he knew that the Avatar needed them and in a way, he guessed that Zuko at least needed them.

When his nephew had told him about his recurring dreams involving Hakone, he knew exactly what was happening but he refrained from telling the Fire Prince; telling him would only make him doubt even more. Dreams like those… they were dreams of your other half. Spiritually, Iroh thought, it could be compared to Yin and Yang, Tui and La, forever connected.

Iroh himself had had dreams of the same kind when he had been younger and in his prime. Less wise and much more handsome, Iroh couldn't help but feel successful. Then Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, he had everything. But one night, a dream had struck him. In it, a beautiful girl was standing in a clearing, her face gentle and caring. She held a hand out to him but he was never able to take it.

The recurring dream lasted for a few years before he found the girl of his dream in the same clearing in the same position. Her name had been Ten Lee; they had married and they had a son they named Lu Ten after her and his father Azulon. But then his son had died in the Siege of Ba Sing Se and he had lost. His father passed away mysteriously one night and Ozai had been named Fire Lord. And Ten Lee… she had left in the night after hearing of her son's death and her husband's disgrace.

There had been a letter saying that she was sorry but there was nothing left for her. She had insisted that the deeds had not lessened her love for him, but that she knew he would not be able to support her any longer. Iroh had known that a part of the reason Ten Lee had loved him as much had been because of his status, but he never knew it could have been so large.

He had no problem with Zuko's possible other half being a boy. Although it wasn't unheard of, it was certainly uncommon and many looked down upon it. As soon as the two realized the bond that they were sharing was, they would be sure to be afraid of telling anyone for the fear of rejection.

Iroh hoped that he would have the chance to express his acceptance of it. He was a believer in love. He didn't want to be someone that his nephew would be afraid to talk to.

The path that the man was walking on had come to an end and opened up to a larger path that ran perpendicular to the one he stood at the end of. He raised an eyebrow, wondering at how the path had passed by so quickly then laughed. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he had missed most of the trip. And so he turned and began the ascent back up the path.

XXX

Zuko wasn't sure what the shared dream meant, but he was glad that Hakone didn't resent him for it. Hakone… he couldn't be happier to know his name. For so long, the young Fire Prince hadn't been sure what to call the boy that had occupied his dreams.

They had relaxed into not a totally uncomfortable silence, but it wasn't nearly as awkward as it had been before their conversation. He had helped him cook a lunch for when the others would return, and sat beside the Water Bender as they ate a portion of stew that Hakone had said was a Water Tribe recipe; he had been surprised to find that it was delicious.

"Hakone," Zuko began and the Water Bender looked at him, his ocean blue eyes large just like in the dream he always had.

"Yes?"

"Did you ever actually suspect me to be bad?"

"Oh Zuko, I never thought that you could be ultimately bad. I mean, Katara and the others told me about how you'd been chasing them all over the world to capture Aang, but that didn't make me think of you in a bad way. I believe that everyone has some amount of good in them," He said.

"Do you think that my father could be good?" Zuko asked.

"I… I don't know. I think that most of the Fire Nation has been misinformed by whoever began this war. There's no way an entire nation of people could truly hate everyone who doesn't belong to them and believe that they are superior. I believe that people are fundamentally good; your father is merely doing what he was raised to do and believe," He answered.

"You remind me of my Uncle," The Fire Bender laughed.

"How?"

"You sound wise just like him. There are many times though that I don't understand half of what he's trying to tell me," Zuko explained.

"Hey, I thought that I offered very good advice Prince Zuko," Iroh's voice called from the path he had disappeared onto earlier.

"You do Uncle. Sometimes you're just hard to understand," Iroh chuckled.

"Did you enjoy your walk?" Hakone asked, and the old man smiled, nodding and sitting down.

"Yes thank you. Did you enjoy your time together? It would appear that things between you aren't as awkward or tense,"

"We've had some time to adjust," Hakone said.

"That's good. I'm beginning to wonder where the others are. It shouldn't have taken so long to exchange a child and a king," Iroh said, stroking his beard idly.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. They're all accomplished fighters and can take care of themselves," Zuko replied.

"You'd know firsthand," Hakone teased. Zuko tensed, his golden eyes flashing.

"Zuko," Iroh cautioned. The Fire Prince gazed at his Uncle before breathing out heavily and gave a short laugh. Although he knew that the Water Bender hadn't meant any harm through the joke, it was still a bit of a sore topic.

As the time passed and the lunch grew cold, the three began to becoming increasingly worried that the others hadn't arrived yet.

"I think we should go look for them; they should have been back by now," Hakone decided after dumping out the lunch they had made earlier.

"Do you think that's a good idea? After all, if anyone from the Fire Nation sees us, we could be in trouble," Zuko asked. The Water Bender gazed at him for a moment, then smiled.

"It's what friends do, Zuko. They look out for each other," He said. Zuko nodded then, and stood up.

"Well we'd better hurry. If there's a problem we _might_ be too late."

XXX

Just as we were about to leave the camp, there was a blast of air and Aang landed in front of us, his face flushed furiously – they had been fighting.

"Aang! Are you okay?" I asked, coming toward him. He nodded brushing past me and sat down heavily.

"Aang, is everything okay? Where are Sokka and Katara? What about Bumi?" I asked, coming up beside him. He huffed and looked at me, tears in his eyes.

"They're coming up the trail. I needed a minute to myself. Bumi won't teach me. He says that I need to find someone who waits and listens. But there are a million Earth Benders in the Earth Kingdom; how am I supposed to find one?" He said. I placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly and looked down at him.

"Don't worry; we'll figure it out. What happened? It looked like you'd been fighting," I told him.

"The trade was called off. Three girls showed up and started attacking us; they were from the Fire Nation, but I've never seen them before," He said.

"What did they look like?" Zuko asked suddenly, appearing beside me. Aang's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"One was dark and brooding, one was bubbly and somehow blocked Katara's bending, and the other was able to shoot blue flames," He answered.

Zuko growled heavily, and I turned to look at him.

"My sister and her friends, I should have known. The one who could bend blue fire was my sister Azula. The dark one is Mai… and the other is their friend Ty Lee," He explained.

"Great. Lose one, gain three," Aang sighed. "What about you, Hakone. What's the verdict with these two?"

"They're harmless. I trust them; don't worry, if they slip up I'll hold them personally responsible," I told him. "Now maybe we should get on Appa, get Katara and Sokka, and get out of here. I can fly Appa if you want to sleep – I can see how tired you are. If these girls are chasing us we might not have much time," I said. And just then, Katara and Sokka appeared in the clearing, waving their hands.

I went and filled them in while Aang instructed Zuko and Iroh how to properly get on Appa. It was lucky for us that we always broke down the tents when we got up, or we would have spent too much time breaking camp.

"So you're telling me to just trust them, is that it?" Katara demanded, her eyes narrow.

"Look, I know you've been through a lot of bad memories with them, but give them a chance; I truly think that they're just here to help," I replied.

"Whatever. We should get going before those three show up," She said, brushing past me.

"Jeez what's gotten into her?" I asked. Sokka shrugged and we walked together to board Appa. The bison groaned as we joined the party – I had forgotten just how heavy we must all be. "Sorry buddy." I told him as we got on.

"Ready to go everyone?" I called as I sat down. They nodded, and I glanced out in front of me and grabbed his reigns. "Yip yip."


	9. Impossible Reality

**A/N: Hello everyone! This actually turned out to be a much longer chapter than I had anticipated; I had originally planned on a quick chapter for Christmas, but I'm happy with the results and I hope you all did too! I hope you enjoy!**

**Pinksamurai, I fixed the issue that you pointed out in your last review.**

**Please continue reviewing!**

XXX

By the time we finally landed, I was worn out. Katara, Aang, and Sokka had taken full naps and were wide awake, but Zuko, Iroh, and I were a bit irritable. We made camp somewhere in a small valley surrounded by mountains, beside a river.

As we set up our camp, Katara smiled suddenly. "I think my bending is back!" She called.

"Actually it wasn't really gone, just temporarily unusable; Ty Lee knows which pressure points in the body to hit to disrupt the flow of chi in the body which allows us to bend," Zuko explained as he helped set up my tent.

"Well that's great, thanks so much for the lesson Zuko," Katara snorted before stomping off toward the river.

"Jeez what did I do to her?" Zuko asked under his breath as we moved on to setting up his tent.

"You mean aside from chasing her around the world? I'm not sure," I teased. He tensed up for a moment and let out a mirthless laugh. "Zuko, it was a joke, I'm sorry if I made you angry." I said, laying a hand on his shoulder. He gazed at me for a moment, his golden eyes unreadable then nodded.

"Sorry, it's still a bit of a sore subject," He said. I left the campsite and headed off toward the river.

The sound of rushing water greeted my ears and a moment later Katara came into my view. She stood in the middle of the river bending water around her furiously. Her expression was a combination of worry and anger, and I sighed heavily. What, exactly, _was_ her problem with Zuko? I raised my hands up and pulled the water that she was bending away and toward me. She gazed after it for a moment, her eyes light with expectation, and then they darkened a moment later when she realized it was me.

"What do you want?" She asked. I pushed the water back toward her without saying anything and walked toward her. She pulled the water around her and sent it back toward me. The slow methodic transfer that we were doing was a Water Bending technique used to represent Tui and La and was also a meditative technique used by masters to calm the thoughts of their students when they were troubled.

"I came to check on you," I said finally when I stood a few feet away from her in the river. "You seemed upset."

"Of course I'm upset. I'm more worried than I am anything else, though…" She told me, whirling the water around her.

"Why?" I inquired, pulling the water back toward me and then pulling a bit more water up from the stream to join it.

"This whole situation; everyone seems to just be peachy with having Zuko in our group, but I don't see why they're trusting him, especially you," She said adding more water like I had. By now the amount of water we were moving had nearly doubled.

"He isn't bad. I tried to tell you about this before but you wouldn't listen. He's not a bad person, he's just made a few bad decisions. You don't know him as well as I do," I told her.

"You don't know him either," She replied. "He hasn't chased you around the world."

I nodded and then split the water into two different streams, pulling one into the opposite direction. It needed more concentration, but it was helpful, nevertheless.

"True. But I know that there's something about him that stopped me from attacking him, and stopped him from attacking me in the North Pole," I explained.

"You never told me that," Katara said through gritted teeth; this was taking more of a toll on her than I thought, and for a moment all I could think was that it was a good exercise for her to strengthen her abilities.

I returned the two streams of water into the river and then breathed in deeply, before recounting everything to her; the way we had both been reluctant to attack, and the way we had been dreaming about the other for a long time. She listened carefully throughout my entire account and when I fell silent she said nothing, thinking.

"Whatever the two of you have going on doesn't mean that he isn't trying to get to Aang still," She finally decided.

"Is _that_ what you're worrying about?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Trust me, Katara, Zuko isn't trying to get to him anymore. He isn't going to do anything against any of us anymore. He's changed."

"But how do you know?" She demanded. I thought for a moment, trying to explain it. How did _I_ know that he wasn't?

"Just look at him. Watch, observe, listen; he doesn't act the same way anymore. He's changed," I said. "Now, we should probably get back, I'm sure they're wondering where we disappeared to.

Katara smiled and nodded, but I could tell that she was going to have to take some time before she changed her mind about him. Well, I had to give it to her – she was a reflection on her natural element; when she made a decision, it was hard to change her mind.

XXX

By the time we returned to the camp the sun had gone down completely and Iroh was serving dinner and tea.

"Ah, there you are. I was beginning to worry that your dinner would go cold," Iroh mildly scolded as he handed us bowls and cups of tea. Katara apologized for our absence and then went to sit beside Aang. It still surprised me how much she seemed to like Iroh, but I guess he wasn't nearly as 'bad' in her book as she considered Zuko.

I went and sat beside the Fire Prince, who smiled as I settled into a spot beside him.

"Were you two talking about me by any chance?" Zuko inquired quietly so that just I was able to hear him.

"We were; she still thinks that you're trying to capture Aang, but don't worry, I put her mind to rest as much as I could. If you notice that she is paying you some more attention than she normally would, don't worry about it. I suggested that she do that to decide whether or not you've truly changed," I said, digging into my food.

The dinner was a Fire Nation recipe, was full of rice and spicy meat. I found that I really enjoyed it, and it paired really well with the tea. When we finished eating, I turned my attention to Iroh for a moment.

"Iroh, have you ever considered opening a tea shop?"

"Well, I thought that maybe when this war ended that I would be able to do something along those lines," He answered smiling.

"Uncle makes the best tea," Zuko voiced his opinion. "I think you should open a shop, Uncle, when everything finally ends."

"Maybe I will, Prince Zuko," The old man said, stroking his beard.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat. I think I'll head to bed," I said after a few moments of silence. The others muttered similar sentiments and by unspoken agreement, we all drifted off to our tents for sleep.

As I was settling into my bed roll, my thoughts turned reflective. So Zuko and I had finally discussed what had been bothering us all this time, but nothing much had come out of it except for an unlikely companionship.

I couldn't help, however, thinking that there must be something more to it than just being friends. Was I really thinking that Zuko and I could… No, that was ridiculous. It wasn't unheard of, but it was still exceedingly uncommon; and with us both being from opposing nations on opposite sides of this war, it would appear even more conspicuous, even _if_ Zuko was on our side.

I tossed and turned for a few moments before I gave up and pulled myself into a sitting position. I needed to talk to him. Maybe it wouldn't be altogether impossible for us, but would he even consider it?

I extricated myself from my tent and took a few steps forward into the gathering darkness before I felt my body collide with something. I lost my balance and nearly fell, but two strong hands reached out to steady me. The warmth that radiated from them startled me and I looked up into golden eyes.

"Oh…" I finally managed after a moment, suddenly glad that the darkness would be able to conceal my deep blush. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," He responded. "I was just coming to find you." He said. It took a moment for me to realize that he hadn't removed his hands from my shoulders, and although it didn't bother me I knew that if anyone saw us it would be questionable for them. I took a step back and looked up at him again.

"Really? I was coming to look for you too," I said. He raised an eyebrow but didn't show any other reaction.

"Should we talk somewhere more private? Your tent, for instance?" He asked. I nodded silently and then turned around for my tent.

As we both settled into it, I realized just how small it seemed with two people occupying its space.

"So. What did you want to see me about?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

"I… I wanted to ask you something," He said, biting his lip. I didn't answer, and he continued. "I've been thinking. After everything that we've been through, and even though we seem to have found a comfortable friendship, I can't help but think that there's supposed to be… something more," He concluded.

My heart started pounding. Was he really echoing the same thoughts that were going through my head at that very moment? Was this reality? I blinked hard and pinched my wrist, thinking that I would wake up, but when my eyes opened there sat Zuko, watching me for my reaction.

"I… well, Zuko, I don't know what to say," I managed. His head dropped suddenly in rejection and I could see the mask that he had pulled off starting to seal itself back. "I've… I've been thinking along the same lines." I said quickly.

Just as quickly as his mood soured, I saw the closure break and his head jerked up. His golden eyes were shining with sudden new light and spark.

"Are you telling the truth?" He inquired, watching me. I wasn't able to speak, so I nodded. His expression was so fierce in that moment that all I could do was look at him. Then his face broke into a smile and I felt the tension dissipate.

He leaned toward me suddenly without warning, and before I knew what was going on, I felt soft but strong lips press against mine.

I was so shocked that my jaw fell a bit slack and he pressed against me, deepening the kiss. He pulled away a moment later, looking at me sheepishly as though he had done something wrong. I smiled weakly at him and then reached a hand out to him. He grabbed it, interlacing our fingers, looking into my eyes.

The impossible had somehow come into our world. It seemed that there was something changing around us, and I wasn't sure if this was the destiny that we had both been preparing for or if this… _us_ was just a factor in our destinies.

"Good night… Hakone," He said after a moment, looking at me. He leaned down and kissed me once more and then pulled away to leave the tent.

"Good night Zuko," I smiled at him.


	10. Rising Emotions

**A/N: Well everyone I hope that you had a great holiday! Onward!**

**Idstealer000: Don't worry, there's reason behind **_**that**_** particular bit. I'd like to direct you to re-read the end of chapter five (namely the Author's Note at the bottom). Also some of it will be mentioned in this chapter.**

**Also, it's Chapter Ten! Wow! This will be the last chapter of 2014, so I hope you enjoy it!**

XXX

For once, I actually slept well. When the sun came up, signaling the beginning of the day, I sat up, blinking and sighing heavily. Was it possible that I had dreamed the entire previous night's events? It wasn't likely… After all, the kiss had been very, _very_ real.

I extricated myself from the tent and headed to the fire where everyone was already eating breakfast. I chose a seat beside Zuko and Aang, both of which were looking at me.

"I hope you slept well," Zuko said quietly, smiling gently. I nodded and smiled at him in response and felt a hand nudging my shoulder from the other side. I turned to face Aang holding a bowl of some kind of mush out toward me.

"I saved you some – Sokka tried to take your portion," He smiled.

"I'm just saying, if you sleep in then you shouldn't get breakfast," Sokka shrugged.

"Thank you Aang," I laughed, taking the bowl. "What's on the agenda for the day?"

"We need to get back into finding Aang an Earth Bending teacher," Katara noted.

"You want to get started on Earth Bending? You still need work on your Water Bending," I frowned.

"True, but the sooner I locate a teacher, the sooner I can come closer to mastering the elements," Aang argued.

"Alright, but when we make camp you and I will work on our Bending," I decided.

"How about I work with him? I could use some work myself," Katara offered. I looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Her blue eyes flashed fiercely with a light that I hadn't seen before in her, There was a barely noticeable shift in her gaze from me to Zuko and then back again, but I caught it, nevertheless. Oh no… was it possible? Did she know? Had she seen him leaving my tent last night?

"I'll oversee both of your training; not that I don't trust your abilities Katara, because I have full faith in them – but I want to see how far he has come. If Aang can take on both of us at the same time we can ease up on him and we can focus some more on finding an Earth Bending teacher," I said after a moment.

"Well you could always do it now since we're still by the river," Sokka noted.

"That's a great idea!" Aang said excitedly.

"Will you join us? If you can offer some observations about Aang's performance it would be helpful," I asked Zuko. I could hear a sudden sigh from the monk beside me as I asked. I wondered curiously if it were the idea of having someone watching.

"We would love to," Iroh replied. "Wouldn't we Zuko?"

"Of course; I haven't had much of a chance to watch very much Bending of the other elements," He said.

"That would be because you've been so busy fighting us," Aang said in an edgy tone.

"Well, if we're going to it had better be now or never," Katara said, standing. I scooped the contents of the bowl into my mouth and chewed thoughtfully as we stood up and began to head for the river.

Zuko and Aang followed closely near me as we walked down, and there was some kind of tension between them that I hadn't noticed before. Sokka, Iroh, and Zuko found a spot just beyond the banks of the river to watch from as the three of us entered the river to begin our spar.

"Alright; basically no rules this time – do what you can to defend yourself and take us out of the fight. Katara it'll be you and me against Aang. If he loses then it'll fall to the two of us against each other. Ready?" I called.

Katara nodded and took a stance from where she was and faced Aang who stood opposite us so that we formed a triangle. Aang took up a stance, his eyes trained on both of us as well as he could.

Katara initiated the skirmish by ripping up the water around Aang faster than I dared believe she was capable of. The young monk barely had a moment to deflect the attack and sent the rush back toward her.

I lifted my arms up and caused the water around me to swirl upward in a cyclone. I aimed for Aang but suddenly I found myself being blocked by Katara as ice spikes shot toward me.

"Oh so you want an all or nothing do you? Bring it on then!" I growled, twisting her spikes back toward her in one giant orb.

Before I had much of a chance to think I heard a rush of water as Aang sent a spiraling blast toward me. I pulled it around me and set it back toward both of them in one long wall before pulling the water around them and forcing it to ice over. For a moment their feet were stuck and the blast sent them backward.

Aang struggled against the ice but Katara wrenched her way out of it and pulled some more of it upward in a spiral toward me. A moment later Aang did the same thing and I had twin blasts heading for me from different angles.

I pulled the water up around me and froze it to form a wall and waited for the impact. After the sounds of the water rushing ceased I took in a deep breath and then flew the ice wall toward where they had been standing. As I expected they had moved and I split the wall and sent the two halves into different directions.

Katara hadn't expected the movement and the wall smacked into her, and the same thing happened to Aang. They both fell under the water for a moment and then sat up, giggling.

"Well, that was fun. Have I improved?" Aang asked as he stood up, water dripping off of him.

"You've improved – you're far from a master, but you're decent enough for us to find you an Earth Bending teacher," I consented. He jumped up, grinning and ran toward me. He launched himself at me and hugged me tightly. I grinned and returned the hug although not as tightly or enthusiastically. When he released me, he ran over to Katara and hugged her as well.

I glanced over to the riverbank where Zuko sat, his expression unreadable. What could he be thinking about?

I walked over hesitantly, and thanked Iroh for his compliment about my bending prowess, and sat down beside Zuko. He gazed straight ahead toward the river, looking at Aang and Katara.

"Did you want to hug him?" He asked quietly so that only I could hear him.

"Is that what you're thinking about?" I asked watching his face. "It was only a hug – he was excited." I told him.

"But that doesn't answer the question – did you want to?" He asked again, this time turning his face to look at me. In his golden eyes a new look that I didn't recognize was gazing at me – hurt.

"Zuko… he is only a friend," I said. The Fire Bender's eyes fell to the ground and then shut. "I think of you as more… more than just a friend." I tried, putting a hand on his. For a moment there was nothing as the contact between us caused my surrounding to vanish. In that moment, he was the only thing I noticed. His reaction to this would say a few things about… well, about us.

His eyes opened again and looked at me, the hurt gone, wonder in its place. His hand turned palm-up and grasped my hand gently. The warmth pouring off of his skin made him feel like he had a fever, but after the previous night's events I realized that it must just be him. Maybe it was because he was a Fire Bender, I thought.

"There are too many people for comfort, to show you how I feel right now," He whispered, gazing at me.

"But why would they care? It doesn't affect them," I muttered in response. The Fire Prince deliberated for a moment, his golden eyes flashing in the direction of the river, where Sokka and Iroh had joined Aang and Katara, laughing.

Quickly as though it were magnetized, Zuko brought his hand up away from mine and pulled me into a hug. I sank into him, his warmth, strength, and power somehow comforting to me. I brought my arms up to hold myself against him just as he did with me, and we held each other for a few moments before he broke the contact, blushing fiercely.

"I'm sorry," He said.

"For what?" I asked, gazing at him. "That was really nice, Zuko." I said encouragingly. I didn't care what people thought of me, but if he was worried about it then I would be supportive of him.

"I'm just not used to showing affection, especially of this kind," Zuko muttered.

I patted his hand and looked at him, hoping that my presence would be enough for him to feel less chagrined about it.

It took a moment for reality to come back around, but when it did glanced toward the river where Iroh and the others were standing. Though they were all busy doing anything aside from looking toward us, Iroh happened to be looking in our direction, and I felt my heart sink into my stomach.

"Oh no…" I started, and Zuko looked at me worriedly.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked quickly, and I nodded toward Iroh.

"I think your uncle might have seen," I answered quietly. I felt Zuko tense and go rigid, his head snapping upward looking at Iroh.

We both sat there for a moment, watching wearily. The old man gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head, his expression happy and then he stroked his beard.

"What does that mean?" I questioned, looking at Zuko. He had relaxed, and was smiling at me.

"I believe that would be my Uncle approving of… us," He whispered softly.

"That's amazing," I replied, gazing at the Fire Prince.

"Now then we just have to deal with the others," He said unhappily.

"I don't think they're going to mind," I responded.

"But there's a certain issue with a particular monk," Zuko muttered.

"Oh… I guess I should probably say something. But I won't unless he advances okay? I don't want to make him mad at me for no reason. It would be out of the blue," I said gloomily.

Zuko squeezed my hand gently before standing up. "Come on," He said holding his hand out to help me stand. "We should probably get going."

As we gathered on Appa I took a place beside Zuko and Katara. The others didn't seem to have noticed anything, but Iroh caught my attention. He glanced toward Zuko and back at me before winking. I blushed and hid a grin, looking at Zuko out of the corner of my eye.

He was leaning back so that he was gazing into the sky. Somehow he seemed very relaxed as though his troubles were gone.


	11. The Swamp

**A/N: I'm sorry for the very late update! I took a few weeks off of writing to pack for school and to move back to campus, as well as settle into my new schedule. Also, I just realized that I forgot to make this chapter published, which is entirely my fault. So instead I'm adding in this chapter as well as Chapter Twelve!**

**I need reviews please! With school being here again, I have to focus, and I could use the reviews to guide along the story's progression.**

**Sorry for the short chapter as well; I figured that I had kept you waiting for far too long as it is.**

XXX

Our flight was beginning to descend, and I looked over the side to gaze down at the ominous swamp that spread around us for miles.

"Aang, is there a reason you're taking us down?" Sokka called over to the young monk. Aang, however, didn't respond, and when I looked up he seemed entirely out of it.

"Aang?" I called. Without a response, I shouted his name again. He shook hard and glanced around like he had just woken up from a dream, blinking as though he were dazed.

"Huh?" He asked.

"I asked if there was a reason you were taking us down," Sokka called again.

"Oh… I honestly didn't even notice," Aang answered.

"Well do you notice it now?" Zuko asked, gazing in distaste at the swamp as we came closer to the murk.

"I do, but it's weird, it's like the swamp is calling to me, like it wants me to land here," Aang explained. "Bumi told me that I need to find a teacher who waits and listens, and if the earth is talking to me, do you want me to just ignore it?"

"There is a lot of spiritual energy swirling around this swamp; I think we should land," Iroh called sagely from his corner of Appa's saddle.

"I don't know… it seems too creepy," Katara replied. Aang sighed and then grabbed Appa's reigns.

"Fine, if everyone feels so strongly about not landing, then I guess we'll go. Bye swamp," He called as though the swamp were a person, and pulled up. Appa gave his usual groan and floated upward.

I glanced over at Zuko who seemed to be a bit relieved that we wouldn't be landing down there, and crawled over beside him.

"Are you okay?" I asked him and he nodded, looking at me.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Nothing, I just noticed how you were acting about the swamp," I told him. He smiled and shook his head.

"It's nothing to worry about. Everything's fine," He responded.

Just when the thoughts of the swamp had passed from my mind, a low whistling interrupted my thoughts. I turned my head and gasped; a tornado was coming straight toward us.

"Aang! We need to get out of here!" I shouted. Aang turned around quickly, his eyes widening as he saw the problem. He pulled on the reigns hard to get Appa out of the way, but without success. We were thrown from Appa and the only thing I could think about was my current free-falling state.

I landed with a loud crash, and when I regained my senses, I extricated myself from the water I had landed in and gazed around me. It was then that I realized that I was alone.

"Hello?" I called. Great… I just had to land alone, didn't I?

I waded out of the murky water that surrounded me and sat down on the moss, thinking. There had to be a way that I would be able to reach the others, but I wasn't sure what that might be.

"Well, sitting here won't accomplish anything," I muttered to myself, and stood up, gazing around me. I was in a small clearing and there were trees all around me. Everything seemed to be tinted green, even the water.

After a moment of hesitation, I sighed heavily and began walking along the river. I figured that I would have to find one of them… eventually.

XXX

"This is hopeless!" I groaned, sitting down on a thick tree root beside the river bank and putting my head in my hands. I had been walking for a good few hours and I was starting to get annoyed. Where were the others? Were they looking for me too?

I sighed and sat up, gazing around me in bewilderment; everything looked the same. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught something that wasn't the same as the rest of the swamp, however; something moving, something alive. I jumped up quickly, pulling water out of the river and prepared to attack.

"Hakone?" A voice I recognized instantly called out to me. Zuko!

"Zuko?" I said after a moment, then ran toward him, the water splashing back into the river. He pulled me into a fierce hug, and I felt myself relax as his arms closed around me.

I pulled away after a moment to look at him and my eyes narrowed at the sight of a large gash across his cheek.

"Zuko, what on earth happened?" I chastised, although without much meaning. I pulled some water from the river and set about working on the healing techniques Katara had been sharing with me in the evenings; it was lucky really that she had. The wound on Zuko's cheek was deeper than it looked.

"I hit a tree when we fell…" He explained before closing his eyes as the water rushed around his face to repair the damage done to it. After a few minutes the work was done and I let the water fall to glance at him again.

His eyes opened and the golden stare fixed me to a point; it felt like I couldn't move, but not in a frozen way. More like his gaze held me in place. In it, I could feel warmth and affection.

"Are… are you alright?" He asked after what felt like an eternity to me.

"I think I am; aside from that, how are you?" I asked, pulling up a hand to trace his cheek.

"I'm okay. Have you found any of the others?" He responded, raising his hand to mine and held it there.

"I haven't," I almost whispered. This was the most affection we had been able to show each other since the kiss had happened. I wondered if he still felt the same.

As though he could read my thoughts, he pushed forward suddenly and brought his lips to mine. I blinked in surprise for a moment before I melted into the kiss and the warmth that radiated from him.

His lips were firm but soft, and they pressed against mine with an urgency that was almost like a need to ensure my safety. I kissed him back just as fiercely, and after a moment I felt something smooth and wet press against my bottom lip as his tongue traced it.

My mouth opened slightly and my tongue rose to meet his. He was sweet, with a musky undertone that swirled through my mind and made me forget my surroundings.

We stayed like that for a few moments until I had to pull away to breathe. My lips felt swollen and I could feel heat coursing through my body that I was unaccustomed to. I gazed up at him, his golden eyes burning brightly, dancing with his internal flame.

"Perhaps we should find the others," He said after a moment, watching me with affection.

"Perhaps…" I managed. I took a deep breath, gathered my courage, and pressed against him, initiating another kiss myself this time. He kissed me back with passion, although it wasn't as heated and seemingly needy as the last one had been.

"Come on, let's go," He said, grabbing my hand.

As we started to walk again, I felt safe; even if we were lost in a giant swamp that spread around us for miles and miles, I knew that neither or us would allow anything to befall the other.


	12. Revelation

**A/N: Terribly sorry that it's such a short chapter, but school must come first! I'm moving along the story line with revealing a few things and changing up some mindsets! Hope you enjoy! Remember to keep reviewing :D**

XXX

Neither Zuko nor I wanted to have to try to behave as though there was nothing going on between us, but as we flew out of the swamp on Appa, we both knew that we had to.

The swamp had been an interesting experience; we found Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Iroh at the base of an enormous tree which connected the entire swamp together – and in turn generated the enormous of spiritual energy that Aang was pulled toward. We had met Water Benders who seemed to have a curious way of bending the water in the vines to control them, and I gave it a few tries; I found that it would be a helpful ability down the road, but I preferred to work with actual water.

Aang explained as we were flying away that he had seen a vision of a laughing girl with a flying boar, and that he was only able to think that she must have something to do with whoever was meant to be his Earth Bending teacher.

"What was it that King Bumi said you needed in a master?" Iroh inquired after a moment of silence.

"He said that I need to find someone that waits and listens to the earth before attacking," The monk responded, sighing heavily. "Whatever that is supposed to mean."

"Do not take words of wisdom at face value, Aang; that is the downfall of youth," The old man said, stroking his beard.

I gazed at Zuko, who was looking at me already. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he gave a nearly imperceptible nod of his head, telling me that nothing was wrong for me to worry about.

And yet, I couldn't _help_ but worry about it; him, me, us. I couldn't stop thinking. Because, if we were truly feeling what I thought we were, then there could be trouble for us on this horizon.

I must have held a troubled look for the rest of our flight; we landed for the night to make camp and as I was setting up my tent, Iroh joined me.

"Hakone, something is troubling you," He said quietly so that only the two of us would hear the conversation.

"No," I answered, too quickly and too harshly for it to be an affective lie.

"I can see it written all over your face. You are worried about yourself and my nephew. I don't think you will encounter much resistance here – love like yours is not unheard of; it might be rare, but do not worry. The others, they will accept it; perhaps a bit shocked at first, but give them time," The old man mused as he pulled the tarp over the tent in case of rain.

"Are you sure?" I whispered, almost not able to voice the question.

"I am," He smiled, golden eyes twinkling. "Now, we should join the others for dinner."

I bowed my head, and followed him to the fire, taking my now usual place beside Zuko and Aang.

"Hakone, you still haven't told us about your time in the swamp. What happened to you?" Aang inquired happily, spooning some of the stew that Katara had made into a bowl.

"Nothing much; I found Zuko first, and then the two of us found you," I answered inconspicuously. I saw Aang face drop about a mile when I mentioned Zuko, but there was no other reaction aside from Zuko tensing up beside me.

"Good to know that you found each other; who knows what might have happened if you had been left out there on your own for too long," Katara said.

"Yes, who knows what might have happened," Aang repeated, though with a certain vehemence in his tone that I didn't register.

"What, exactly, are you implying?" Zuko growled menacingly. I whipped my head around to stare at him for a moment, confused, until I realized what Aang had meant.

"Oh nothing, just that you and Hakone seem to be relatively closer to each other than to anyone else in the camp," the monk responded. Everything was silent, and for a moment, the only sound was the crackling of the fire. The tension could have been cut with a knife.

"We need to tell them," Zuko sighed heavily, looking at me with a defeated expression.

"Tell us what?" Sokka asked, curious.

Everyone was looking at me now, Iroh smiling gently, Katara knowingly, Sokka confused, and Aang angry; each expression seeking answers.

"Sokka, Aang, what the two of you don't know… something happened at the North Pole," I started. I launched into the story, leading up to the night of the kiss.

"Zuko and I… we think that our destinies are intertwined. We think that we might be each other's balance – like Tui and La are," I managed after a moment of hesitation.

Katara and Iroh looked happy, Sokka looked confused, and Aang looked hurt.

Without a word, Aang got up, grabbed his staff, and flew off. I gazed off after him for a moment, and then looked back around to the others.

"Well that went… well?" I said after a moment. The others laughed nervously except for Zuko and Sokka.

"What do you mean? Are you and Zuko like… a thing?" Sokka inquired.

"Yes," Zuko said after a moment, leveling a golden gaze at the Southern Tribe boy. Sokka cringed but otherwise said nothing.

"Perhaps I should go talk to him," Katara spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Yes, I think that might be for the best. He's a bit upset, I'm sure," Iroh agreed. Katara stood and after a moment left.

"I never expected that to go quite so… smoothly," I said to Zuko after a moment.

"It wasn't ideal, if that's what you mean," He muttered.

"No, but I expected there to be yelling and arguments," I amended. He smiled at me and then touched my hand for a brief moment. The contact sent a surge of energy through me, and then it was gone. I found myself craving more, but I held myself back from pulling him into a hug.

"How long do you think Katara and Aang will be?" I wondered after a moment.

"As long as it takes for Aang to calm down," Iroh said.

"It's already getting late; I hope they haven't gone too far," I said after a moment, watching the sunset. Beautiful blends of pinks oranges yellows and blues, all creating a mesmerizing and spectacular view.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be fine," Zuko murmured, more to ease my concern than anything. If there was anything that I did too much of, it was worry.

"Thanks," I responded. After a few moments, Iroh went for a walk and Sokka made an excuse to go hunting for the next day's meal, even though there wasn't anything larger than a beetle roaming in the clearing that we landed in.

With the sudden absence of the others, Zuko closed the gap between us and put his arm around me. I felt myself relax into his embrace and for a second all of the tension melted away.

"I could stay like this forever," I sighed after a moment. He rested his chin on my head, humming gently.

XXX

Aang felt hurt. He'd really felt an attraction toward Hakone, and to see him going for Zuko had made him mad with jealousy. He was sitting on a rock, resting his chin on his knee. Looking back on the situation, he knew it was wrong for him to react the way that he was, but he felt mildly hurt.

"Aang?" A voice called. Not the voice he was hoping for either. The young Avatar barely glanced in Katara's direction as she made her way to sit with him. "Are you okay?" She asked after a moment's hesitation.

"I'm upset, but I don't know why. I'm hurt, but I don't know why. I'm being selfish," He muttered. The Water Bender sighed heavily and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

"Aang, you have every right to feel the emotions that you're feeling because they're normal," Katara told him. The Air Bender didn't move aside from glancing at her. "You had a crush and it didn't turn out the way you'd hoped. I'm sorry," She said kindly, smiling at him in that soothing way she had.

There was something about Katara that made him feel at home, although the Avatar could never place what it was. She was familiar, she was safe. He could talk to her. Without thinking what he was doing, he leaned forward and rested his head on her shoulder.

She brought her arm up to hold him to her, and they sat, watching the sunset.

"Are you okay?" She inquired after the sun was beginning to vanish below the horizon.

"I will be," He said.


End file.
